


Halloween 2191

by annamvolt



Series: Yanna Shepard [2]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mention of pregnancy, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-05 13:17:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16368326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annamvolt/pseuds/annamvolt
Summary: Yanna Shepard is hosting her fourth Halloween party, but she has a different kind of ‘treat’ for her partners.





	Halloween 2191

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the drabble challenge of the Mass Effect FanFiction Writers facebook group. Prompt: Halloween.

                Halloween was a big thing in the Shepard household. Bigger than Christmas and New Year’s, bigger than the traditional Easter feast, bigger than even Apokries – the more religious, Greek Orthodox equivalent of Halloween.

                The tradition was started by Kaidan four years ago. It was humanity’s first Halloween after the Reaper War. For Yanna and Kaidan, it was also the first Halloween they got to celebrate together in their now shared home.

                At the time, Yanna’d been sober for about five months, all the while seeing a therapist and being on the hard road to recovery. Kaidan had thought it would be a nice way to lift her spirits and reconnect with their old friends—so he hosted a surprise party which was basically a spooky _Normandy_ reunion. Liara had been the distraction; she took Yanna out for shopping and brunch while Kaidan, with EDI, Joker and Samantha Traynor’s help, made the preparations for the party.

                By the time Yanna and Liara had returned to the apartment in Tiberius Towers, most of the guests were already there. Yanna still remembers opening the door and freezing in place for five seconds before she broke into laughter.  Kaidan was dressed as a zombie; Jack a sexy vampire; Traynor a pirate; EDI a killer nurse with Joker as her bloodied patient… Even the aliens had gotten in on the fun; Garrus was a mummy, Grunt was… supposedly a wizard, and Tali was a cat. The entire apartment was decorated with bats, spiders and webs, skulls and bones, pumpkins, severed limbs and pickled eyes, and everyone was sipping on virgin Bloody Marys.

                Since then Yanna upheld the new tradition with passion—and her friends, human and alien, rarely missed a party. This year was the fourth Halloween party the Shepards were hosting, and a rather special one at that; it was their 11-month-old son’s first Halloween, and the cherry on top?

                Yanna had recently found out she was pregnant again, and she was planning to announce it to the dads today.

                The guests started arriving at around 7pm. This was always Yanna’s favorite part; she usually hadn’t seen most of them in a while, and it was so nice meeting again and getting to see what costume they were donning this year.

                Joker and EDI came as Kaidan and Shepard – _“EDI, EDI, do the angry face!”_ – while Garrus came as Blasto;  Samantha was a fairy; Grunt stuck a tail on his backside and said he was a pyjak; Tali came as a character from the popular game _Galaxy of Fantasy_ ; Miranda and Jack came as an angel and a demon – _“Princess insisted on it”_. Yanna and Kaidan were a C-Sec officer and an escaped prisoner, respectively. Little Dimitri was also in the spooky mood, sporting a sweet skeleton onesie his daddy bought him.

                When Dimitri started getting drowsy, Yanna found an excuse to drag Kaidan away. As he put their son to sleep, Yanna couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Five years ago, she wasn’t even sure she was going to live through the war. Four years ago, she didn’t think she had the strength to take care of _herself_ , let alone someone else. And now, she had her own family. She had little Dimitri, she had Kaidan, and soon she’d have James, who’d have to come home at some point if he wanted to be there for the birth of his first biological child.

                “Kaidan, there’s something I’ve got to tell you,” Yanna started, taking his hands into hers. He looked at her almost suspiciously. “I’m pregnant.”

                Kaidan’s eyes widened; his jaw dropped.

                “Again? Wait… This… isn’t a prank, is it?”

                Yanna had to swallow the laugh that almost escaped her, so as not to wake her baby.

                “Kaidan, it’s Halloween, not April Fool’s.”

                “Oh. Right.” He eyed her belly, which wasn’t so much as bloated yet. It was still early; with Dimitri, she only started showing at fifteen weeks. “Do you… know whose it is?” Kaidan asked hesitantly.

                Yanna nodded. She’d already done the paternity test. “James’,” she simply said.   

                “Does he know?”

                A shake of her head was the answer. “I’ll send him a vid message. I wish we could tell him face-to-face.” Her face darkened a bit. James loved Dimitri, of course—he was basically his son too—but having a kid who shared your DNA was different.

                “I know, me too,” Kaidan said sweetly, caressing the woman’s hands. “Come on, let’s send him the vid together.”

                Kaidan activated his omnitool. Yanna slipped next to him and they both looked into the holographic lens.

                “Hey, James,” Yanna started, if a little anxiously. “I hope you’re doing okay. We miss you.”

                 “You better make arrangements for shore leave soon, Vega,” Kaidan took the reins, ”unless you wanna miss the birth of your spawn.”

                Chuckling, Kaidan sent the vid to James. As he deactivated his omnitool, he glanced lovingly at the snoring baby in the crib, then into Yanna’s eyes. The joyful smile on his lips brightened up his face more than the glow of the omnitool did.

                “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I’d have such a beautiful family,” he whispered, wrapping his strong arms around Yanna.

                Neither did she. Especially not after she became Commander Shepard.

                “I love you,” she just said.

                “Me too,” was Kaidan’s reply. As he pulled back, he smirked devilishly. “Five hundred credits says Jimmy will cry when he sees the vid.”

                “Like he’d ever admit it. Come on, let’s go back to the party. I’m sure the others are missing us.”

                As they returned to the sitting room, Yanna couldn’t help but smile to herself.

                It was definitely one of the most memorable Halloweens for Yanna, Kaidan, and James, who did actually burst into tears when he watched the vid message his partners sent him—although he wouldn’t admit it if you tortured him.


End file.
